


Peacock's Counsel

by ME4ML



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Is Learning, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Duusu Is A Wise and Fancy Bird Mom, Episode: s02 Glaciator, Gen, Kwami Swap, Not a Salt Fic, Not an anti-Adrien Fic, Peacock Adrien Agreste
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 06:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19145533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ME4ML/pseuds/ME4ML
Summary: A conversation with his kwami teaches Adrien some valuable lessons about friends, lying, and love.AU of Glaciator





	Peacock's Counsel

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sort of continuation of a previous Peacock!Adrien fic I wrote on tumblr, more of a one-shot about how a different kwami (who provides some real guidance) might have changed the events of _Glaciator_ (or the equivalent in this particular timeline, which I might explore further). It’s my first big fic for ML, and I hope you like it! Enjoy, and comments are always appreciated!

Duusu fluttered around her Chosen, peering down at his lovely blonde head as he sulked into his room. 

“Why do I even bother Du?” Adrien groaned as he flung himself onto his couch, the cushion muffling his voice as he buried his face into it, “I know he’s not going to show up, _know_ it. And yet, every night, without fail, I let myself get hopeful! What is _wrong_ with me?!”

The kwami sighed. Her chicks could be dramatic, but this particular one had reason to be. She floated down, tapping lightly on the crown of Adrien’s head until he turned to face one gleaming emerald of an eye to her. Duusu gave him a brief smile, reaching out with a small paw to brush over his sunshine plumage, before stating, “There is _nothing_ wrong with you, sweet chick. You are, like all of my lovelies, brilliant and beautiful. Any issues your father has are his, not yours.” 

Adrien sighed, but said nothing. Duusu didn’t speak either, merely letting out soft clucks as she continued to stroke his hair. The silence went on, becoming comfortable, when Duusu spoke again, saying, “At least you have something to look forward to this evening!” 

“Yes!” Adrien exclaimed, shooting up abruptly and causing Duusu to dive out of the way. “I’m excited! I can’t wait to see Ladybug!”

What.

The peacock goddess stared open-mouthed as Adrien, face lit up with a smile, leapt up and headed over to his speakers, setting up his iPod to make it seem like he was practicing diligently as ordered. Adrien nodded in satisfaction, then turned to see his kwami hanging in midair with her jaw still agape-a rather unusual look for his elegant and composed friend! “Duusu? You ok?” Adrien asked in concern, moving closer to her. 

Duusu’s mouth snapped shut, and she shook her tail out. “Adrien, Ladybug said she probably wouldn’t be able to make it.” 

“Yeah, but she could!” Adrien replied, his smile undimmed. “And I want tonight to be special, that’s why I’ve got to be heading out!” Adrien bent down and snagged some sunflower seeds, spreading them out for his kwami. Dusting his hands, the boy glanced over to see his kwami goggling at him. “Do you not need to fuel up Duusu?”

The kwami glanced away, and ruffled her feathers, pulling her tail around to smooth it with her paws. “Adrien, you were invited to hang out with your friends-with Nino and Alya, Mylene and Ivan, and Marinette. If you are going to insist on going out, at least go be with them!” 

Adrien, to Duusu’s shock, shrugged. “I’ll just text Nino and say my dad won’t let me come out. It’s not far from the truth.” 

That did it. 

Duusu did not normally shriek at her chicks, but if this one, rather aggravating, fledgling was not going to listen by any other means, she would not be silent!

As Adrien reached into his pocket to pull out his phone, Duusu rocketed down, and with a twirl of her tail, whacked the phone out of his hand onto the couch. His startled “Hey!” was ignored as she zipped back up, and with a flare of her tail, forced him back to the couch, dropping the blonde boy to his tail with an “Oof!”

“You are going to listen to me, Adrien Agreste, and listen well,” Duusu hissed, floating before her wide-eyed Chosen with her fan flared wide and trembling. “You are the Wielder of the Peacock Miraculous, and _that_ carries responsibilities. Including a responsibility to be truthful, not only with others, but with yourself! And you, you just shamed that!”

“Duusu, what the heck!” Adrien gasped out, trying to stand and being forced back into his seat by an angry kwami. “What’s wrong with you?” 

“What’s wrong with _me?!_ ” the little goddess shrieked, ignoring the low gasp of “Keep it down!” from the teen. “What’s wrong with you? You want to not spend time with your friends, that’s fine! But you do not lie to them!” 

“Why does this matter to you?” Adrien got out, confusion clear in his eyes. “It’s not a big deal!”

" _Not a-_ ” Duusu grated out, before shrieking, her tail snapping open to it’s full blaze of glory in her anger, tears gushing freely, ignoring Adrien’s panicked hushing and look towards the door, his flail to shush her. As if anyone cared in this frigid excuse for a nest. 

Duusu clucked and chirped to herself, flapping her paws and zipping back and forth for a few moments, the soft glimmer of tears shed never actually hitting the ground, while Adrien watched her, more than a little frightened. Finally, Duusu came to a halt, turning her watering eyes to her Wielder. She inhaled hugely, and pulled her tail around, beginning the lengthy process of smoothing it back to where it should be. Blast the boy for ruffling her feathers like this!

“If that _disgraceful_ excuse of a parent and fashion designer were actually, truly not letting you go, I would have already told you to take flight to your friends. That is not the case, and if you wanted, truly, not to attend, you should say so. But I will not let you _lie_ to them.” 

Adrien frowned at her. “Why are you so upset about me lying?”

Duusu smoothed her feathers some more. “Peacocks are avatars of a number of things, chick, among them, truth. Lie and liars are….anathema, to us. It is our nature to be ourselves, as gracefully, as gloriously, as we are. To represent ourselves in a fashion that is not truthful diminishes us, and, more importantly, diminishes our abilities.” She fixed Adrien with a stare, unfurling her tail in all of it’s spotted glory. “We are seers, Adrien. Seers of futures, of truths. And sometimes, that can be hard. Hard to see, hard to bear. But it must be done. A truth can be painful, but the pain of a lie is insidious, corruptive, corrosive. A clean blow is preferable to a lingering sickness.”

Adrien looked a bit stunned, and Duusu honestly couldn’t blame him. She had dropped a chunk of knowledge on his pretty head, and even in a normal situation, it could weigh on a Chosen, had broken them. Especially one so young….

But he needed to be ready. There was a reason that a Guardian was a Miraculous holder, usually one of the High Tier, and Peacocks had filled that role throughout history. Duusu didn’t know what the plans of this Guardian were, but it was best to prepare her Chosen should he find an even heavier weight landing on him.

Duusu’s musings were broken by Adrien’s hesitant voice. “But….I lie to my dad, and to Nathalie, and the Gorilla. A lot, about where I am and what I’m doing, when I’m helping Ladybug, or even when I just want to be out. Are you saying that’s wrong?”

Duusu couldn’t help the eyeroll that statement prompted, or the bristling of her tail. Her boy was smart, Unity knew, but sometimes….

“Chick, you are being deliberately obtuse. You know that Ladybug relies on you to help in the battle against Chat Cauchemar, and you know that you need to be able to fly freely to do so. If you told your ground-dragging father, or that duck of an assistant of his, they would not only confiscate the brooch, they would lock you up and never let you leave this room unwatched. Use that brain I know you have, and _think_.” 

Her Wielder frowned, the thought of not being able to leave clearly disturbing him. As it should-Peacock’s were not meant to be trapped and confined, locked away. They were meant to be seen, to show their colors and soar. Duusu could and did despise Gabriel Agreste for that alone, for attempting to clip her Chick’s wings before he even learned to use them, to treat a Peacock like a common songbird, locked in a cage and singing on cue.

Not to mention the man’s sense of fashion, Herself bless it all. _That_ was criminal behavior right there! 

“So….” Adrien said slowly, clearly (finally!) thinking, “I should go and hang out with my friends?” 

“Obviously,” Duusu snorted, finally getting her tail situated. 

Adrien frowned at her. “But what about Ladybug?” 

“What _about_ Ladybug?” Duusu snapped back, at the end of her patience, then reigned it in. Clearly, her boy needed a different approach. So she decided to ask, “ You wanted to go to school. Why?”

Adrien’s eyebrows rose, and he gave her an incredulous look at the abrupt subject change. “What’s that got to do with anything?” “Indulge me, sunshine.” Duusu hoped that a classmate’s nickname would help get Adrien thinking along the lines she was planning.

Adrien was dubious, but played along. “I wanted to go to school, real school, because I wanted out of here.” “And?” “I wanted to be normal.” 

Duusu gave a shuddering flutter at that last phrase-the last thing she wanted was for her Peacock’s to be normal, and the impulse in this one was frankly perverse. But that was a problem for another time, and this young lad had another issue she wanted to focus on. “And what else did you want to go to school for?”

Adrien replied, “I wanted friends." Yes! Finally, the opening she wanted. “Yes, you wanted friends. And you found them. Good friends, close ones. So, tell me,” Duusu flicked her talons, scarlet eyes intent on her chosen’s, “Why don’t you want to spend time with them?” 

A perfect strike, as Adrien’s head snapped back, jaw dropping slightly. Duusu waited for her charge to collect himself, patience not being nominally a virtue of hers, but one she would exercise in this particular instance. Not a challenge, for a being as magnificent as herself!

“I want to spend time with them!” came Adrien’s sputtered reply, after what seemed to be an interminable time. Duusu’s look was eloquent in it’s silence. “Really? Because to me, it seems like what you are doing is ditching your friends- _lying_ to them-to go set up a romantic evening with a girl who has not given you a promise, oath, or any clear indication that she will either be there, or in fact returns your feelings.” 

“But I-Ladybug-”  
Duusu cut him off with a flick of her feathers. “Ladybug is an issue for later. _We_ are discussing why you want to _lie_ to your friends.” 

“I’m not lying to them,” the boy muttered sulkily, and Duusu raised her eyes to the ceiling to ask Tikki for patience. “Chick, if you had sent your musical friend a text to tell him that your father would not let you come, then yes, that would have been a lie.” 

“It’s not…” Adrien started to reply, stopping, strugging with his answer. Duusu said nothing, watching him. The silence was uninterrupted, save by the sound of the recorded piano in the back. 

“I want to spend time with my friends,” Adrien said finally, tapping his fingers on his lap. “I don’t want to lie to them.”

“You would have done so, Adrien, if you told Nino that you were not allowed to come out and did so anyways,” Duusu stated firmly. Now she was curious. “Is there one in that group you do not prefer? I thought that you liked Nino, Alya, Marinette, Ivan and Mylene.”

“I do!” Adrien declared. “I like them all. Nino is…well, he’s my _best_ friend, my bro. And Alya is so passionate and driven and clever. Ivan and Mylene are really nice, he’s a cool guy when you get to know him, and Mylene is sweet and gentle, I liked working with them to make that movie. And Marinette, she’s incredible! She’s smart, and talented, and really kind, and she’s caring and she is a really good friend!”

“So you like all of these people that have invited you out, that have actively sought your company. You consider them friends,” Duusu concluded. 

Adrien looked down at his phone in his hands, drumming his fingers on the case for a moment, before he nodded, and said, smiling, “Yeah. Yeah! They’re my friends. And they want to spend time with me.”

Duusu nodded briskly. “Good, that’s settled then. Let me eat, and we will be on our way to your friends!” The kwami spun around, and dashed over to her seed pile on the table, only to discover that her Chosen had not moved when she landed. “Adrien? What is it?” 

Adrien sighed, his smile disappearing, and tossed his phone onto the couch beside him. “I just….I want to hang out with my friends. But….I really want to talk to Ladybug!”

Unity seal it, but Duusu was **done.** She was going to bite Adrien on the ear and sing him awake at break of dawn until he learned his lesson!

“Then tell me, chick,” Duusu snapped, her patience dangling by a thread, “Why tonight is so important. What is soooo important that you have to _lie_ to your friends to spend time with Ladybug? What is so important that you are willing to wait for her, even if she’s said she probably will not show up? What? Tell me!”

Adrien looked at Duusu, and stated, “I need to see Ladybug to tell her that I love her. That I’m in love with her.”

Oh. 

**Oh.**

That…..was a Truth. Duusu would have felt that down to her bones, if she had bones. 

Well! This was…..unexpected. Duusu has thought her Chosen’s feelings were a teenage infatuation, hormones running amok. Or that Adrien had merely imprinted on the first candidate for romance like a hatchling would on it’s mother. But she had not considered this. Adrien truly felt **love** for his Lady. 

Time to scratch beneath the surface of this, then. If this was something that she should encourage, or needed to shut down. Duusu knew all too well that love could become obsession, or that it might not last. If this were normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have a problem with her Wielder romancing a fellow Wielder, but that would be….messy, with current events. 

“So you think you’re in love with Ladybug, hmmm?” Duusu inquired, miming a thoughtful pose as she stared at Adrien. “Tell me why.”

Adrien shook his head in denial. “There’s no think about it, Du. I **am** in love with her.”

“As for why,” and here Adrien’s face grew distant, the peacock kwami guessing that he was envisioning Ladybug. 

“She’s brave. She stands up to Chat Cauchemar, no matter what, from the very first day she has done that. She has a heart of gold, and such a warm soul. She’s funny, and kind, and so, so smart! All the crazy stuff Lucky Charm comes up with, and she knows how to use them so well. She’s just…..awesome. And Ladybug is so beautiful! Her eyes, her smile, her freckles, her hair, there’s just-she’s so pretty!” 

Adrien’s pretty face had grown an enormous, dopey grin as he spoke, and he shook his head as he finished, blushing slightly. 

“I love her, Duusu. She’s….Ladybug’s the most amazing, beautiful, kindest, _best_ person I’ve ever met.” 

“And I want to be there for her. I want….I want to be at her side in fights, and make her laugh afterwards. I want to make her smile, and find out what she likes to do, and-and-and hold her when she cries. I don’t just want to be her partner that she sees occasionally, I want to be her friend, and see her everyday. I want-” Adrien cut himself off, blushing harder now. 

Duusu smiled. “What was that last one, chick? You dropped off. Hmmmm, could it have been something like, “I want to kiss Ladybug senseless?’’ she teased

If Adrien blushed any harder, he was going to match his Lady’s suit, but he squeaked and nodded. 

Duusu chuckled and flew off the table to perch on Adrien’s shoulder, letting her peachick recover. 

Adrien clearly had hormonal thoughts in Ladybug’s direction, but that was expected. What had impressed the kwami was the direction his thoughts had taken. While physicality certainly played a role in his mind, Adrien had described her non-physical attributes first. His desire to know her better, his desire to grow closer to her seemed heartfelt, emotional. Her chick clearly desired Creation’s Chosen, but there was nothing wrong with that. 

Yes, this was love. Young love, certainly, but true love. So, how to take this then? 

“And why is it so important that you confess tonight, sunshine?” Duusu asked gently. Adrien glanced over at her on his shoulder. “Is this some special human day of significance? An anniversary I’m not aware of?”

Adrien shook his head before replying, “No, not like that. I just….I don’t want to wait anymore. I want Ladybug to know how I feel. Now, so I can tell her that I love her, that I want to be with her.”

Duusu nooded, before popping up and circling to hover in front of her Chosen. Now came the tricky part. 

“And what if she doesn’t love you back, fledgling?” 

Adrien blinked, staring at her as though she’d just starting spouting off at him in Sumerian (Wonderful language, shame almost no one spoke it anymore). The look in his eyes was evident that he had never considered it before, that Ladybug would not return his feelings. 

“But….she’s supposed to.” 

The fact that Adrien said this with a lost expression on his face was the only thing that saved him from having to explain to his father why his face was covered in bite and scratch marks. 

Duusu sat back, and considered her charge. Young, yes, and younger still with how his worthless, talentless, graceless hack of a father had restricted him. Most of Adrien’s experiences came from stories-comics, movies, TV and books. What had he really seen of an actual relationship? What did Adrien have to judge by? His parents? Duusu grimaced and flicked her feathers at that. Gabriel and Emilie Agreste may have loved one another, but Gabriel had clearly been obsessive with his devotion to his lost beloved (Adrien’s mother as Klimt’s Lady in Gold was one of the few stylish touches in this house, Duusu grudgingly admitted, but it was still over the top), and **his** behavior and actions were not something she wanted Adrien to model himself after. The Bourgeois girl had been Adrien’s only friend for a long time, and her parents were _certainly_ not a good example of a healthy or stable couple!

Duusu sighed. This was what became of not pushing fledglings out of the nest-they didn’t learn to use their wings (or their brains), and they sometimes splattered messily. Not only for her own sake, and the city that they were charged with protecting, but most certainly that of her Chosen, whom she did love deeply, Duusu would prefer to avoid that splatter.

As much as it was necessary, and as much as she loved watching her fledgling’s fall in love, sometimes one of them needed to have their heart broken, before they broke someone else’s. If this was a mere fling, a dalliance, something for Adrien to enjoy and move on, Duusu would be less caring. But the Truth he had spoken was still bright in her mind’s eye, and the kwami knew that if this was handled wrong, it would break her peachick. And she did not want him to break. Duusu wanted her Chosen to soar high. 

“Adrien. Darling. You hate when that άχρηστος κόπανος of a father makes you do something, when he doesn’t listen to you, when he disregards your thoughts and your feelings. You hate when your fans assume that they know you, the real you, when they see you in those ads, wearing those Plagg-awful clothes you’re forced to be in. You hate when people think that they have a right to you, yes?”

Adrien nodded, and Duusu steeled herself for this next part. Because this was a hard question, a hard truth, but a necessary one. So her voice was gentle as she asked, 

“Then why are you treating Ladybug the same way?” 

Adrien gawked at her, the confusion, the hurt, clear in those lovely eyes. “I’m-Wha-I-I’m not!” he squawked. “I do love her, Duusu, I do!”

“That does not mean she has to return your feelings, Adrien.” Duusu’s voice was calm, but sharp, cutting across Adrien’s. The young man flinched back, his expression pained. She gentled herself, and drifted closer. “Adrien, love is an amazing, splendid thing. That you love Ladybug, are in love with her, is wonderful. But her feelings matter too, in this matter. Rather more than yours do. 

“You may make your intentions to her clear-in fact, I encourage you too! Watching a young Peacock preen and dance and sing and display for his beloved is always a joy for me, and your Lady is fortunate indeed to have such a handsome young prince choose her!” Duusu smiled broadly, moving closer to Adrien, who instinctively raised his hands to cup her in them as he smiled wanly back at her. 

“But Adrien, even if she is fortunate to have you dance for her, want to build a life with her, she can say no. A Peacock may charm and captivate and enthrall. But love? True love? That is something utterly precious. And it must be returned, from the one you show your colors to.

“You may show your Lady your feelings, and she may turn you aside. And that,” Duusu said softly, resting her paw on his hand, a somber look on her face, “my sweet young star, will hurt. But Ladybug has the right to know her own heart. She has the right to her feelings. And that, no one can take from her.” 

Adrien stared at her, the shine in his eyes very clearly the beginning of tears, and Duusu felt her own tears shimmer. This was a difficult lesson, but it was a lesson her young charge needed to learn earlier, rather than later. 

“If Ladybug loves you, Adrien, then she loves you, and I will wish you nothing but joy for and of each other. But if she doesn’t return your favor, if she loves another, or none at all, then you **must** accept that truth.”

Adrien’s eyes spilled over, fat drops of tears trickling down his face. “But I love her, Duusu. And I don’t-” he sucked in a breath, clearly trying so hard not to sob, “I don’t know how not to love her.”

“There are many forms of love, Adrien,” Duusu replied, her own eyes shimmering with tears at the sight of her Chosen’s, “And whether or not Ladybug returns your love, as you want it, does not mean she does not love you. She may love you as a partner, as a friend, that is something precious to have. And there will be others, whom you may find return that love in your heart.”

“….But they won’t be Ladybug.”

“Adrien,” Duusu snapped, her tone sharp, yet gentle. “Ladybug is one girl, in all the world. She is an amazing girl, yes, and worthy of her position and her power, worthy of your love and everything you’ve said of her. But! She is still only one girl.”

Duusu floated from her position cradled in Adrien’s hands to gently touch one of his cheeks where a tear track ran. “I would not have you be blind, my sunshine chick, to all that you have to offer the world. To not see that there are those who see you, you yourself, and love you. Myself first and foremost among them. 

“And I would not have you blind yourself to a world of love. Comparison is the thief of joy, my darling. Do not let your joy be stolen away.” 

Adrien could only stare at her, throat working, eyes filling with unshed tears, as he croaked out, “You….you love me?”

If she had a heart, Duusu is certain it would have shattered at the pain and longing and loneliness in that question. 

“Of course I love you, Adrien. Of course I love you.”

The dam broke. Her Chosen doubled over, and the tears threatening to burst forth finally did, as he jerked his hands to his face, covering his sobs. Duusu could only nest in his hair, petting him, clucking and cooing soothingly in every language she could think of, while she wept with and for her chick.

How long had it been since her fledgling had heard those words? How long had he been starved of the affection and love and care that every child needed and deserved? How long had Adrien been quietly dying inside, while his father demanded he smile for the world, and Adrien did so, because it was at least attention of some kind? 

Right then and there, Duusu wished she had access to Plagg. Because her dearest wish would be for the Black Cat to be freed from his imprisonment to that horrid Chat Cauchemar, and after Cataclysming his captor, Duusu happily would have turned him on to Gabriel Agreste and watched. 

Adrien’s tears subsided after about five minutes. He sat up, swiping his hand across his face, taking a deep breath. His cries had been mostly silent, stifled by his hands, and Duusu consciously had to stop her feathers from buzzing. It was clear that Adrien had practice at crying silently and unnoticed, and Duusu knew that if she could, she’d already be down in that hideous excuse for an atelier trying to claw Gabriel’s face off in rage. 

“Fledgling, I will make you a deal,” Duusu said, as Adrien reached over, wiping his eyes again as he picked up his phone. “A deal?” he echoed with a sniff, swiping it open to see a text from Nino. 

The kwami nodded, perching on Adrien’s shoulder. “A deal. Go out with your friends. Enjoy their company, and see where the day brings you. Have fun, and be, even though it pains me to say it,” and here Duusu shuddered, which caused her boy to huff out a laugh, “normal. Don’t think of Ladybug. And,” she continued, rushing ahead, because Adrien looked a bit rebellious at this last instruction, “if you do that, another night, I will agree to give you all of my knowledge about romance so you may let your Lady know you wish to court her.” 

Adrien’s jaw dropped. He gaped for a moment at her, looking like an unattractive stuck fish, before getting out “Really?!”

“Yes,” Duusu nodded, a small smile on her face. “You will be the most handsome Peacock, and you may woo her with my blessing and knowledge. Dance for her, sing for her, display for her, most extravangantly. Let her, and all of Paris, if need be, know! But that’s the second half of my deal.” 

“OK?”

“You **must** accept her answer, regardless of what it is. Either acceptance or rejection, you must respect her decision.” 

Adrien’s face collapsed, his sunshine dimming behind a fog of disappointment. “Oh.”

Duusu nodded, stating “Your love is true, peachick, and pure. But love can grow twisted, and spoiled. I would not see you dull that lustrous soul of yours, chasing after someone who does not want you, and has made their stance known. If Ladybug does not accept your suit, she does not, and you must not pursue her further. Be her partner, her ally. Her friend, absolutely. But no more if she does not wish it. Can you do that?”

Duusu watched the struggle, clear as day on Adrien’s face. He stared down at his shoes (Duusu was so tired of that. She was going to teach her peachick to strut and stand tall and look high if it was the last thing she did!) and worried his lip with his teeth. Duusu waited, floating calmly, until he looked up. “What if I make things worse?” he asked. The kwami cocked her head. “What do you mean?” “What if….what if I tell her, and she laughs at me? Or if I screw up the relationship we have now, and Ladybug doesn’t want me to be her partner anymore?” Adrien asked as peered up at her. 

At last, some sense from her chick. Duusu curled and uncurled her feathers, considering. “Any change can be hard, in matters of the heart. But tell me, what do you think of your bond with Ladybug?”

“She’s my friend,” Adrien replied immediately, which made Duusu felt warm at the speed and sincerity in that. “And I want her to still be my friend. I just…want her to be more.”

“Ah,” the kwami said, swishing her tail. “Then it is a matter of presentation, and for that, clever chick, you have come to the right place!”

Adrien chuckled as he quirked an eyebrow at her. “I certainly have!”

“You hush, silly chick,” Duusu said, flipping her tail as a woman would her hair as she rose off of Adrien’s shoulder to float in front of him. “Now, for the matter of Ladybug. It is in the presentation. If you declare your interest, and she rejects it,” she went on, noticing Adrien’s flinch but not saying anything, “then you are worried your relationship could change. That is something to consider, but! If you are elegant in your phrasing, as you are in your movements, if you are kind in your actions to her reply, if you tell Ladybug that nothing will change, that you will continue to be her partner and friend with no change, if you accept her response with grace….It may be strained between you two for a time, but partnerships have survived worse, and come out the stronger for it. 

“And think of what you know of Ladybug. She is responsible for so much-the defense of this city, the protection of her home, keeping her Miraculous out of the claws of Chat Cauchemar, and yours as well. That can be a great task, especially for one so young. She relies on you, Adrien, as her partner and support, and I do not think that she would throw that away lightly.”

Adrien had puffed up when his kwami stated that Ladybug relied on him, but he had stayed thoughtful throughout her speech. Duusu eyed her Wielder for a moment, swishing her tail idly through the air, before she said lightly, “You still haven’t said whether or not you will accept my deal, peachick.” 

“I haven’t? Oh,” Adrien stated, eyes dimming. He glanced down again, rubbing the toe of his shoe against the floor. His phone pinged, but he ignored it, and Duusu held her own silence, waiting on her Chosen to decide. 

At last, Adrien looked up. “Yes,” he said. 

“Yes what?”

“Yes, to your deal. I’m gonna go out with my friends, and have a good time. And another night, if you’ll help me, I’ll tell Ladybug how I feel. 

“I want Ladybug to love me, like I love her. But….” a swallow, a shudder, “I don’t want to lose her, either. And if…..” deep breathe, exhale, “if she doesn’t want that, to be in love with me. Then being her friend is just as good. And I’ll treasure her friendship, because it’s a gift.” Adrien peered up at his kwami again. “Is that ok?”

Duusu felt herself swell with pride. It was hard on her boy to say that, she could see it, but it was an enormous step, one in the right direction. She nodded, immensely pleased, and swooshed down to nuzzle against her Chosen’s cheek. Adrien laughed, and raised a hand up to rub against Duusu, smiling at the peacock as he stroked over her feathers. “Can I say again how glad I am that I’m not allergic to you?”

“For the thousandth time, yes. And I’m glad as well, constant sneezing is _not_ attractive!” Duusu said, and Adrien giggled, looking down when his phone pinged once more. “Oh shoot! Nino wants to know if I’m gonna be able to make it!” Adrien looked up from his phone at Duusu. “Help me with a lift?” 

Duusu grinned, and dove for the table where her sunflower seeds waited. “Text him back and I’ll be ready!”

Adrien grinned back at her, a sunbeam smile, and Duusu swiftly devoured the small pile of seeds, quickly yet with her typical elegance. She was very proud of her fledgling, and he deserved some time with his friends. And later, she would instruct him in the art of wooing, giving him all of her expertise and skill. 

If Ladybug rejected her Chosen, Duusu might wonder about the Luck Avatar’s brains, for he was going to be a glorious Peacock when his train was fully grown! But she would not have to worry about _her_ Chosen’s heart. A deal was a deal, and Duusu had felt the truth of that. Her fledgling was well on his way to fulfilling his potential as one of the best Peacocks she had ever bonded with, and Duusu was excited to see where this journey would take them.

Adrien put his phone away, and looked at the kwami. “Ready?”

Duusu popped her last seed into her mouth and rose up. “Let’s go!”

“Duusu, fan flare! "

**Author's Note:**

> The phrase in Greek that Duusu uses translates to English as "useless jackass" just in case you were wondering. Part of my headcanon for Duusu is that she's very multilingual-well, all of the kwami are, they have to be-but Duusu is one of the ones who enjoys using her other languages the most, especially when she's cursing someone out.


End file.
